1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus and a recording method capable of performing recording on a recording medium having a lenticular lens.
2. Related Art
There is known a recording medium that includes a lenticular lens composed of a plurality of semi-cylindrical lens elements, which is arranged in parallel to be overlapped on a recording layer, so that the images recorded on the recording layer observed via the lenticular lens are perceived as stereoscopic images or variable picture images according to the viewing angle. For the images recorded on the recording medium to be perceived as predetermined stereoscopic images or variable picture images, it is necessary to align the recording position on the recording layer so as to comply with the arrangement of the lens elements of the lenticular lens.
The alignment of the image recording position with the arrangement of the lens elements of the lenticular lens is carried out as follows. The width and the arrangement pitch of the respective lens elements of the lenticular lens are identical to each other and they are known in advance. Therefore, the recording position is controlled based on the distance from the edge of the recording medium so that images are recorded at predetermined positions so as to comply with the known arrangement of the lens elements.
In some cases, the lenticular lens or the recording medium is produced in the desired size by cutting a large-format sheet. Therefore, the shape of the lens element disposed at the edge of the recording medium may differ from recording medium to recording medium or from production lot to production lot, depending on the cutting position.
For example, when the cutting position is positioned at the valley between neighboring lens elements, the lens element disposed at the edge assumes a semi-cylindrical shape. On the contrary, when the cutting is carried out at a position midway in the lens elements, the lens element disposed at the edge will not assume a semi-cylindrical shape. Therefore, when the recording position is controlled based on the distance from the edge of the recording medium, the positional relationship between the recorded images and the lens elements may change depending on the shape of the lens element disposed at the edge, namely the width of the lens element.
Therefore, when recording is performed on the recording medium, it is necessary to adjust the image recording position so as to correspond to the arrangement of the lens elements of the lenticular lens depending on the width of the lens element disposed at the edge of the recording medium. As a method for performing such an adjustment, a technique is disclosed in JP-B-3471930, for example. According to the technique, a plurality of patterns for detection of a positional deviation spaced at varying intervals in the arrangement direction of a lenticular lens are printed on a margin area of a lenticular printing medium. A user determines and selects the pattern printed at the optimum position from the printed plural patterns. Then, based on the optimum position, the recording position on the lenticular printing medium is corrected.
However, when using the technique disclosed in JP-B-3471930, the user needs to determine and select the pattern printed at the optimum position from the plural patterns, which may greatly increase the burden on the user.